Day 19: Wednesday 4/3: Almost There
Another great day at sea. Everyone is so excited that we will arrive Thursday late afternoon……looks like Rose will win the bet!!!!!! We have continued the speed increase, 1225-1300 rpm and have been helped a lot by a 0.5 kt favorable current! ETA is Thursday between 4:30 – 5:30pm!
A very long trip indeed…..I was discussing with everyone, I don’t recall doing anything nonstop for 3 weeks!!!!! It’s hard to describe the emotions…..in fact, since the 4th or 5th day, the low point for me when we were fighting the counter current and I was quite worried/concerned about speed, fuel and changing course, I have worked hard to keep the emotions in check and just concentrate on the tasks at hand. But, that is about to end and I’ll finally allow myself to feel the accomplishment……just need to get that anchor down!!!
We are about 100 nm away as I type this…..I have smelled something different but I don’t think it is land yet…..the winds are still from behind…..hmm, maybe it is smelling a clean boat…..yep, luv living on the edge…..did you see the hand reach out and smack me 🙂 )))))
Not much to report…..Kathy is so excited and full of nervous energy she cleaned the boat, did a ton of laundry and has champagne, wine et al already chilling.
Les and I took another shot at Nobeltec and I do believe we have it. But, it still is not as good as the old program, VNS, so I have some follow-up w/Nobeltec to see if we can make it like the old program. We also tuned up the autopilot……much needed after I inadvertently made some changes on the Panama to Galapagos passage!!
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Position 4/4 @ 1300 UTC:
Position: 9 33S 137 30W
Traveled: 171nm today; 2912nm total; 88nm to go; ETA 5:00 pm Thursday 4/4
Course: 246M HDG, 247M COG
Wind: SE-ENE (75-130) 12-16kts and calming overnight; current wind is 12 kts E
Waves: SE-ESE 4-7′ swell; 10-14 sec period; had 2-4′ wind chop 3-6 sec ESE
Speed: current SOG is 6.9 kts, has varied 6.8-7.4 kts; avg 7.1 kts SOG today; 6.47 kts SOG total for passage
Weather: 100% cloud cover and a few squalls overnight; sea temp 83.3 deg F – getting warmer
Boat sightings: 0 today; 9 since we left
Fishing: 0 today, only the 3rd day getting skunked; 26 total for the trip; 13 bonitos, 9 skip jacks, 4 Mahi.
Fuel Burn: After 450 hours we are burning 2.28 nmpg, 2.86 gph, 1231 gallons total and 79 gallons more than expected; fish stops now @ 35. Of course speeding up will burn more fuel! We should have ~265 gallons remaining!
Sail: Still up and helping
